Features

Over the years there has been a great debate over organic versus non-organic foods. Do you really need to go organic… or… is it just a waste of money?
The Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) is a nonprofit organization that advocates in Washington D.C. for policies that protect global and individual health. Among the many valuable services they provide is a shoppers' guide to pesticides in produce.

Picture a dark, theater-like room, loud rock music blaring, with huge video screens flashing bright images on the stage, and each one of the crowd of 700 young people wearing a headset glowing florescent green in the dark.
Sound like a new take on an ultra modern 3-D movie?
Try a high-tech version of a birds and bees discussion with the emphasis on sexual abstinence targeted toward teens and young adults.

I believe the No. 1 killer of mental and relational health is the refusal to go through the learning experience of emotional pain. And if the most costly discomfort we refuse is withdrawal pains from toxic chemicals, habits and relationships, I believe the next biggest mental health buzz kill is the ever so common refusal to forgive others and oneself.
I just have to take a stab here at trying to reduce just a little bit this colossal waste of serenity.
Forgiveness is a private act. It may never include an “I forgive you” talk.

When four former mayors of Shelbyville get together to talk about their heydays, there's bound to be some reminiscing, some joking and even some well-deserved boasting.

There was all of that and more when Marshall Long, Neil Hackworth, Donald Cubert Sr. and David Eaton – men who bridged two decades at the helm of Shelby County’s seat – gathered Thursday night as the “featured speakers” for a meeting of the Shelby County Historical Society.

Some eyes in Shelby County will be smiling Thursday when one of our own celebrates St. Patrick's Day, where most surely would guess is the best place to do so – Ireland.

Stephen Fox, 23, says he has fallen in love with the Emerald Isle and its people in the two months that he has been in Dublin on an internship to complete his college credits at Eastern Kentucky University, where he is a senior, majoring in communication studies.

Captain Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, USMC, whom I had first encountered as my instructor at Marine Corps Basic School in Philadelphia in 1937-38, had actively sought combat assignments.

In World War II and the Korean Conflict, he continued to advance in rank and to add three more awards of the coveted Navy Cross to the two he wore at that time. He had been considered by all Marines to be the Corps’ greatest hero,

Now, to his dismay, he had fought his last fight. He was however to be caught up in other controversies.

“It seems like only yesterday when she graduated from [Shelby County] high school, and now she’s living in Hollywood, within walking distance of the Walk of Fame.”

Those are the words of Eve Lawson Lewis, the mother of Ruby Lewis, a member of the Class of 2003 who just finished up a national tour of the Broadway musical Greaselast year and has moved on from musical theater to television.

Lewis Burwell Puller, at 5 feet 8 inches and 144 pounds, was a little below average size of his time, but he stood out among his contemporaries because of his barrel chest.

Even so, I still have difficulty referring to him by his nickname, “Chesty,” because when I first met him in 1937, he was called “Lewie,” although not by us second lieutenants, who were careful to address him quite formally as “Captain Puller!”

Annunciation
Homebound or hospitalized? If you know of someone who wants to see a priest or needs communion, call the parish office at 633-1547. If you have thought of becoming Catholic or have questions about the Catholic Church, you are invited to come to RCIA. Contact Diana at 647-3499.

Have you ever heard the story of the man who threw a party and offered a million dollars or his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man who could successfully swim the length of his pool, which was filled with hungry sharks?

Well, one guest made it, and when he climbed out, dripping, the man asked the guest what he wanted.

“The only thing I want is to know who pushed me into the pool?” the man demanded.

During a month when we celebrate African-American history, many in Shelby County can look back at through their families and see the impact made by a former slave from Simpsonville – a story only a relative few even have heard.

Elijah P. Marrs left his indentured life of the 1840s on Clark Station Road and fought his way to the classrooms not only as a student but as a teacher and an administrator who brought knowledge to those long denied the basic process of learning – and in the process created a legacy that too often goes unnoticed.

Allen Chapel United Methodist
The church will worship its heritage at 3 p.m. Sunday. The theme is our heritage in Biblical times of our religion. More than 4,000 years of Biblical history will be told. The church is south of Finchville. St. John United Methodist will worship in music with the Shelby County choir at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 at 212 Martin Luther King St.

Allen Chapel United Methodist
The church will worship its heritage at 3 p.m. Sunday. The theme is our heritage in Biblical times of our religion. More than 4,000 years of Biblical history will be told. The church is south of Finchville. St. John United Methodist will worship in music with the Shelby County choir at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 at 212 Martin Luther King St.

Hanna Evans lived for only six years, but her loving, generous spirit is about to immortalized at the hospital that treated her for a rare form of cancer.

Her parents, Jennifer and Rob Evans of Simpsonville, have donated $1 million to the Kosair Children’s Hospital to create the Hanna Catherine Evans Bone Marrow Transplant Program, which will help provide care for child cancer patients.

The dedication will take place at 1 p.m. Monday at the hospital in Louisville.

After 56 Valentine’s Days together, Fred and Geneva Ruble are still sweethearts.

When they wed on July 23, 1955, they embarked on a love story that has never waned. “Freddie” and “Neva” (their nicknames for each other) have really lived up to their marriage vows, especially the part about “in sickness and in health,” said their daughter, Renee Ruble.

“In more than 50 years of marriage, they have never been apart for more than three or four days,” she said.

Homebound or hospitalized? If you know of someone who wants to see a priest or needs communion, call the parish office at 633-1547. If you have thought of becoming Catholic or have questions about the Catholic Church, you are invited to come to RCIA. Contact Diana at 647-3499.

Chad Higgins begins his service as the minister of music for the New Mount Zion Baptist Church of Shelbyville.

He has served in various capacities in music ministry leadership for many churches in this region. He is the music coordinator for the Midwest Region of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses (aka, The Thomas Dorsey Convention).